


Life's a Beach

by Vero_nica



Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Anxiety, Confused Lost Boys, Depression, Eventual Happiness, F/M, Fluffy, Neglect, Nightmares, Pan being nice for once, Pirates are dicks, Sassy and feisty reader, Starvation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2020-10-12 03:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20557361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vero_nica/pseuds/Vero_nica
Summary: Y/N is a mermaid who was banished from living with the other mermaids of Neverland, and was then taken by pirates. So, yeah, life isn't going too great. So what happens when the notoriously evil demon boy king of the island decides to rescue her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Y/N = your name  
E/C = eye color  
H/L = hair length  
H/C = hair color  
F/C = favorite color  
I'm sure you can figure it out if I add in other ones. This is my first fic as a "mature" writer, or at least an older one, so I hope you guys like it and that it turns out at least decent. I'll try to catch any errors I make while writing along the way, but feel free to comment if you find any because it'll make editing that much easier. I do accept suggestions, but I also have a plot planned. Please don't be offended if I don't use your idea because I might use it in another fic if it's good. Also, I'll be writing in Pan's perspective. Thank you and please enjoy.

Pan had been keeping a close eye on the pirates. They had only arrived a few weeks ago, but were already causing trouble. They kept trying to set foot on the island, and every time without fail, the Lost Boys sent them running back to that damn hunk of wood they called a ship. The captain, Blackbeard, was an annoying pest that Pan would just love to squash and be done with. However, he enjoyed toying with the dimwitted brutes. They were on his island after all. So, the pirates stayed just off the coast of mermaid lagoon.

Today, however, something seemed a little off. The pirates, or at least the crew because Blackbeard never seemed to do anything besides eat and sleep and yell a lot, kept taking row boats out a little ways from the ship and putting rocks down. Pan shook his head and scoffed. They were such morons.

"Pan," a gruff voice called out. Pan turned around and saw his second-in-command, Felix. A tall boy, unfortunately taller than Pan himself, but we don't talk about that, Felix was rather imposing and was exceptionally loyal to Pan. The boy was also blond and had a scar that ran down the side of his face. Pan crossed his arms and scowled slightly.

"What is it Felix?"

"It's almost time for the hunting party to go out. They need instructions."

Pan sighed. Of course they did. He started to walk off towards the group of Lost Boys, and forgot about the weird pirate behavior.

***

It had been a few days and Pan was lounging on a log, enjoying a moment of quiet while the Lost Boys were out doing their regular duties for the day. Of course, it didn't last very long.

Cassie, one of the younger Lost Boys, bounded up to Pan in the way that 5 year olds too, all excitement and grins and with an air of importance. Pan smiled a tiny bit at it. Cas was taken from an abusive orphanage after his parents died. The boy had dark, raven colored hair, and had bright, blue eyes. He was just barely tall enough to see Pan's hip when he stood.

"What's up Cas?" Pan asked.

Cassie took a deep breath before starting. "The pirates were laughing."

Pan raised an eyebrow at that. "They were laughing?" That was new.

Cassie nodded quickly. "They were laughing and yelling about somethin'. I dunno what it was. Devin and me heard them when we were picking the berries by the beach. The red ones just like you told us."

Pan nodded slowly. "Okay. Thank you, Cas. Go ahead and find Devin and stay with him, okay?"

Cassie nodded quickly, grinning from being successful, and ran off.

Pan stood up and walked to the edge of the forest where he could keep watch on the pirates. They were, in fact, yelling and laughing at something over the edge of the ship. Pan couldn't see anything besides that from where he was standing. He wondered how long this merriment had been going on for. It was absolutely unacceptable.

He looked up to the sky and noticed it was getting dark. He'd investigate as soon as the boys were all asleep. He'd leave Felix in charge in the meantime. Pan glanced at the pirates one last time before walking back to the camp.

***

Night had fallen and the boys were in their tents. Pan put away his flute and walked over to Felix. The boy in question turned towards Pan with a questioning look.

"I'm going out. You're the authoritative figure until I get back. Got that?" Felix nodded.

"Good." Pan turned on his heel and launched up from the ground towards the pirate ship.

The wind whipped passed him as he flew towards the ship. He hovered near it once he got close, making sure there weren't any pirates awake. As he was surveying the vessel, unmoving, he heard a soft melodic noise. He instantly started to look around, wondering where that noise was coming from. It was...beautiful? Yeah, beautiful was an acceptable term to describe the melody.

He carefully started to fly towards the other side of the ship, around the hull. As he moved, the noise got louder and he realized that it was someone, or something, singing. The voice was quiet and sad. He couldn't make out any words, but he could hear how sad the voice sounded. It sounded feminine and all he wanted was to move closer, to keep listening.

Pan flew to the other side and was surprised by what he saw. A tall, stone structure was rising out of the water, and the song echoed from within. With one last look at the pirate ship, Pan flew to the edge of the cylinder made out of rocks, and peered inside. His eyes widened in disbelief. There, at the very bottom, was a mermaid. She had H/L H/C hair, and a dull looking F/C tail that seemed to match the top she was wearing. Her voice was very soft and almost weak sounding now that he heard it up close. Upon further inspection, Pan realized how awful these living conditions were. The water was shallow and dirty looking, probably from the rotten food that was sitting at the bottom that the pirates must have thrown at her. The enclosure couldn't have been more than six feet in diameter; the poor lass had hardly any room to swim. 

He leaned in closer, causing a small rock to splash into the water below. The mermaid whipped her head up with a frightened gasp and quickly tried to hide, but there wasn't anywhere to go.

"Get away from me! Leave me alone!" She looked up at him with wide, terrified E/C eyes. 

"Shhhhh be quiet, it's alright. You're gonna wake the pirates," Pan whispered, glancing back over his shoulder. Nothing. They were in the clear. He turned back to look at the girl who was still staring up at him.

"I-I know who you are," she stuttered softly, her eyes somehow widening even more. "You're..You're the boy king, Pan." She pressed herself up against the rock wall even more, and Pan noticed how sickly she looked.

"Yes, I am. You're a smart lass. What's your name?" Pan asked with a tilt of his head. She, however, shook hers and didn't answer. Pan frowned slightly and glanced over his shoulder again. Still no pirates.

"Look, love. You're obviously not having a good time here and the pirates have been having way too good of a time, so how about I let you out of here and you can go back to your mermaid mates, yeah?" 

Again, she shook her head. "I...I can't..." She mumbled. 

Pan frowned a bit more. "What do you mean, 'you can't'?"

She looked up and glared harshly at him. "I'm on my own, okay? I don't have any 'mates' 'cause they tossed me out. You really think I'd still be stuck in here if I was still with them?" Her glare slowly softened and she looked down again. She whispered quietly, "I have nowhere to go...I'm not accepted in these waters anymore..."

Pan bit his lip slightly as he thought. He had an idea, but it was a long shot. "I have a place where you can stay. A nice lagoon that only I know about. I'll take you there."

The mermaid quickly wiped her eyes before looking up at him. She must have been crying. "Why would you do something like that for me? You're supposed to be evil."

Pan shrugged a bit. "Oh, I am evil, lass. I just can't let these pirates have their fun while they're my prisoners, and I don't feel like angering the other mermaids by letting you swim away into their waters. So, the only answers left are to either kill you or bring you to my lagoon, and I don't really feel like killing you. Yet."

She observed him silently, trying to tell whether or not he was lying. "So...you have a lagoon that I can stay at? Where the pirates and the other mermaids won't find me? And I can swim freely?" Pan nodded and she smiled a tiny bit. It was a nice smile. "Do I have your word, Pan?" 

"You can have my word, if I can have your name." He smirked and raised an eyebrow in question.

She thought about it for second before slowly saying, "Y/N. My name is Y/N.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mermaid rescue mission. Yeah, that's all basically idk.

Pan smiled softly. Like, an actual smile. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He dropped the smile quickly and nodded. "Alright. Y/N."

She nodded hesitantly and glanced around. "So...you gonna get me out of here or..?" She fidgeted with her hands nervously, and Pan noticed how bruised and cut up they were. Pan assumed it must have been from trying to dislodge the heavy rocks that made up her prison.

He nodded and carefully lowered himself down into the cylinder, hovering over the disgusting water. His nose wrinkled slightly from the awful stench the filthy water was giving off. He needed to get out of there, and unfortunately he had to bring the mermaid with him. She was watching him warily, her E/C eyes narrowed. 

"Alright. I'm gonna have to lift you. Don't squirm, or I will drop you." She huffed annoyedly up at him, and he reached down and pulled her out of the water and into his arms with ease. Too much ease, actually. He looked her over and was almost saddened by how skinny and frail she looked. It didn't look like she had eaten or even slept recently, her bones easily seen through her skin and the dark circles under her eyes prominent. She grabbed onto his shirt tightly and curled into his body. He kept an arm around her back and the other wrapped under her tail so that he was holding her bridal style. Her rough scales and smooth skin were freezing beneath his fingers, and she was shivering.

"It's gonna get colder. I'll have to fly you to the lagoon. I suggest you hang on." She barely had any time to grip him tighter before he shot into the air towards the hidden lagoon. She didn't make a sound, and when Pan glanced down at her, she had her eyes squeezed shut and her knuckles were pale against his shirt collar. He smirked slightly. A flying fish. A fish out of water. He chuckled at the thoughts.

He slowly flew into the opening of the secret lagoon, and carefully landed on the shore. "Alright, lass. We've arrived." Y/N slowly opened her eyes and gasped. Pan could see why. The place was huge, at least ten times as large as the watery cell that the pirates had held Y/N in. The ceiling was a large dome that was covered in crystals and vegetation which sometimes meant that leaves and flowers would drift down into the crystal clear water. There was a large circle in the middle of the huge earthen dome, letting in the natural moonlight that seemed to make everything glow. Y/N ignored Pan's previous warning and squirmed in his arms, yearning to be free and to escape to the gorgeous water.

Pan chuckled a bit and carefully lowered her down into the water where she quickly swam away and did a lap around the lagoon. When she returned, she had the biggest smile on her face. "This place is perfect!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. Pan smirked a bit.

"Of course it is. It's mine. There should be plenty of fish in there for you to eat or whatever. Make yourself at home." He turned to head out, but the voice of the mermaid stopped him. 

"Thank you, Pan. Are you going to visit at all?" When Pan turned around, trying to hide his surprise, he saw that Y/N seemed genuinely curious about whether or not he'd come back. 

After a moment of consideration, he slowly answered, "I suppose I could. I mean, this is my lagoon after all. It's one of the only places where I can get some time alone. Well, now that you've ruined that, I'll need to find a new place, but...yeah I suppose I'll come back." He shrugged, acting like it didn't matter, but, for whatever reason, it did. It mattered to him that he had decided that he was going to come and visit his- no. Not his. The. The mermaid. He didn't want a mermaid. She was just the toy he took away from the pirates. Nothing else.

She rolled her eyes with a small giggle. "You were the one who decided to bring me here, so I don't want to hear you complain about my presence. I guess you need to head back to that camp of yours, so I'll see you later then."

Pan nodded slowly. "Yes. I suppose you will, Y/N." With that, he turned on his heel and walked out through the vine curtain that hid his lagoon. The last thing he heard was a cheerful giggle and a splash of water behind him. 

***

Pan walked back into the clearing that held his camp, and saw Felix sitting by the fire. The blond looked up when he noticed his leader walk in. "What took you so long?"

Pan scowled slightly. "You don't ask questions. It's none of your business. I just took away the pirates new source of entertainment."

Felix obviously wanted to know more, but made the right choice to keep his mouth shut. Pan stalked over to the table that the food was served on, and grabbed a piece of fruit from a bowl. It was an apple. For whatever reason, Pan started to wonder whether Y/N liked apples. Or if she'd even had one before. He shook his head, clearing away the thoughts. As he took a bite, he began to question himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe he should of just killed the damn creature and been done with it. But no, for whatever reason unknown to him, he had let her live. 

Felix had left for his tent after realizing he was no longer needed, leaving Pan to sit alone at the fire with only his thoughts for company. He threw his now finished apple core into the forest behind him, and stared at the flames. With a frustrated sigh, he took out his flute from its place beneath his log, and began to play a small tune. The music always helped ease his thoughts a bit. Unbeknownst to him, a little mermaid who had been happily eating for the first time in days had heard his musical tune and, with a small smile, sang quietly along with it.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning came slowly. Pan had gone to bed late, his head filled with confusing thoughts that he struggled to understand. It pissed him the hell off. So when he woke up before the sun had risen the day after the mermaid rescue, he was even angrier and confused on why Y/N was the first thing that came into his head. She had no right being there. Her with that H/C hair and E/C eyes and gorgeous tail...Nope. Nuh-uh. These were not his thoughts, they were not normal. He should just forget about her and leave her to that lagoon all by herself. But...he did say he would. And Peter Pan always keeps his word...Bloody hell, what had he gotten himself into? 

Pan groaned in frustration and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He stood up out of bed and stretched a bit before walking to the wooden chest he kept at the foot of his bed. It was painted green just like a lot of Pan's possessions. His bed covers, most of his clothing, the carpet on the floor. Green was definitely his color. Anyways, he opened the chest and pulled out a shirt and a pair of pants that he would be wearing that day. He changed out of his soft night clothes and slipped into the clothes he just picked out. 

After briefly glancing around and running a hand through his bedhead, he stepped outside and surveyed his camp. The boys were running about doing their daily duties. There were boys running around playing with their swords and knives, boys making breakfast, just boys everywhere. Felix spotted Pan before Pan had seen him and wandered over to him. 

"Morning," he said in a gruff voice. Pan simply nodded in response. His thoughts were once again filled with images of that damn mermaid. He simply couldn't figure it out. That's it! He would go and see her today and try to figure out- oh no Felix was talking and Pan hadn't taken in a single word of what the blond had said. 

"What was that?" he said, trying not to show how he was slightly embarrassed. Wait...Embarrassed? Peter Pan doesn't get embarrassed! Bloody hell what was going on?

Felix raised an eyebrow but repeated what he had said. "I said that the boys were wondering if we could play a game today. They're growing restless." Pan scoffed. "They're always restless. This is nothing new. Send them out for a hunt or something. I uh..I'm gonna be busy today. I...need to check something out today." 

Felix looked at him suspiciously, but like a good second-in-command, he didn't question him. "Alright. I'll see what I can do." Pan nodded and glanced around once more before starting to walk away. He could feel Felix's stormy eyes on him the whole way. 

He teleported to the entrance of the hidden lagoon and walked inside. It looked the same as it had the previous day and he couldn't see Y/N anywhere. He walked to the water's edge and looked around impatiently. Where was that blasted mermaid? 

"Come out, come out wherever you are," he spoke in a bored tone. A second later there was a ripple in the water and the mermaid hesitantly peeked out from the water's depth. Seeing that it was just Pan, she lifted her head more. 

"So," she said with a small smirk. "You did come back." 

Pan rolled his eyes. "I made a promise. I'm fairly good at keeping my promises." 

She shrugged but didn't come any closer to him. "What do you want?" she asked with a quizzical look. It was Pan's turn to shrug. 

"Nothing really I guess. Just felt like stopping by." She raised an eyebrow. Pan scowled a bit back at her. "Well I'm not going to leave you in this lagoon unsupervised for very long now, will I? It is mine after all." She giggled a bit, and Pan grew angry at himself for his first reaction being to smile a bit at it. That wasn't right. She gradually began to swim closer to him.

"Well..." she said slowly. "I do like it here. Thank you." Pan was taken aback. 

"Yeah uh...whatever." 

She shrugged a bit and swirled her hands through the water. It was then that Pan noticed the cuts all over her palms. "Doesn't that hurt?" he asked. She looked down at her hands and hid them under the water. 

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." 

Pan was confused...because he was worrying. Why was he worried about some dumb cuts on some dumb mermaid's hands? it was probably her own bloody fault anyways. But still...He sat down on a rock that overlooked the water and was closer to her. "Come here," he said, not unkindly, but still firm. She hesitantly swam over and looked up at him curiously. 

"Up here," Pan said while rolling his eyes. He gestured to the rock surface beside him. Her eyes widened in surprise and a light blush tainted her cheeks. She carefully climbed up beside him, wincing only slightly when she put her hands on the rock. 

Pan reached over to grab her wrists but she flinched and pulled away from him. For a moment, all Pan saw in her face was fear before it was gone. It was like she had taken it and shoved it into a chest never to be opened again. Pan raised his hands in surrender. In a bit of a softer tone, he said, "Let me see your hands."

She hesitantly raised her hands for him to see. There were long, ragged gashes all across her palms and fingers, and some of her knuckles were busted. "Why did this happen?" Pan asked carefully.

She shrugged a bit before answering. "I just wanted to get out..." she mumbled. Pan nodded slowly in understanding. She must have been trying to pry the rocks apart with her bare hands. 

He slowly lifted his hands over hers and focused. He felt a warm feeling in his chest that spread down to his fingertips until his hand was lightly glowing a nice green color. She watched nervously, chewing on her lower lip. After a moment, the glow died down and he put his hand down. Her eyes were wide as she surveyed her hands. There were only faint hints of pale scars where the cuts had been. Her hands were healed. She looked back at him, and Pan could only stare back into those E/C orbs. They were- nope. They were eyes. Just eyes.

"Why did you do that?" she asked softly. Pan could only shrug. Why had he done that? It wasn't like him. Something had to be wrong with him. He stood up and brushed his clothes off. Of course, this was a meaningless gesture for it didn't really do anything to get the dirt off.

"I'm going to go now. I have more important things to do," he stated coldly. If she was hurt by his tone, she didn't show it. She merely rolled her eyes and replied, "you and your important things."

He huffed and began to walk away again. He heard the mermaid laugh and dive back into the water, and he could barely suppress a smile himself. Good lord, he needed help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that it's taking me a bit to post new chapters. I've been busy with school and such


	4. Chapter 4

A few days had gone by since the rescue. At least, Pan thought they were days. For all he knew it had actually been months or years, but that didn't matter because it was Neverland where he and everyone on it never aged a single second. He liked it that way, of course. His eyebrows and face never grew flawed with the faults of age. He was spending more and more time over at the lagoon with Y/n. He could feel himself enjoying it and even looking forward to it. He tried to stop it. All those idiotic feelings. He passed them off as simple infatuation due to her being new and that he would grow tired of her eventually. If he didn't...Welp. 

He had been spending the morning with Y/n and it was obvious by the time that he got back that Felix was suspicious. As soon as the leader strolled into camp, the other boy's grey eyes were upon him with a look of harsh curiosity. Pan, of course, ignored it and looked around the camp. Everything was still perfectly in order just as he had left it. It was rather boring, to be honest. Time for a game!

"Boys!" Pan roared out. Immediately, every boy came to his call. It didn't matter how far they were. The island could carry his voice through the wind as far as the lagoon where Y/N was waiting. The boys stood around him, all ages and sizes. They all knew what was coming. 

"We're going to play a game," Pan announced slowly, a small smirk upon his lips. The boys around him waited anxiously. Pan could tell they were both nervous and excited. It was never any different to how they always reacted to his games. What game should it be, though? "We're going to play...treasure hunt," he decided with a lift of his chin. It had been a while since they last played. The treasure was a conch shell that one of the younger boys had found while he was walking along the beach. Pan usually hid it way up in a tree or deep a cave, somewhere difficult to reach. The announcement of the game made the boys holler and shout while Pan's typical ego-filled smirk widened. Felix nodded a little to him, but had a little agenda to fill on his own. 

"I hid it very well this time. I don't expect any of you to find it before sundown!" Pan challenged. The older boys roared back at their leader, each making claims of finding it faster than the boy next to them. Pan rolled his eyes before sending them off in search of the pure white shell. Once they had all disappeared from view, he turned and walked towards the shore to do a routine Pirate Check. A grey eyed lost boy watching from afar turned and walked in the opposite direction. 

***  
Y/n's POV  
***

The water was cool and refreshing against Y/n's scales as she propelled herself through the water. She found herself taking laps around the lagoon as often as she could. It truly did have the most beautiful and clean water that she had ever swam in, not that she had swam in many waters. She was still kind of weak and would often take breaks, but every day she got stronger. She was eating more as well which meant that she was no longer just skin and scales and bones, but she still wasn't at a good weight quite yet. 

She sighed in the oxygen molecules as she calmly sank down to the bottom of her lagoon. Well, Pan's lagoon. Nah it's definitely her lagoon. She stared up at the now calm waters as the sunshine beamed through down to where she was. A small smile crept upon her face and it would have taken her by surprise, but lately it has been happening quite often. Especially whenever Pan came around. She wasn't sure what that was about, after all he was the evil demon boy that kept people trapped here for the rest of eternity. Still, he was the only company she was getting and certainly he was the nicest company that she had ever gotten. That really wasn't good if an evil demon was the nicest person she had ever talked to. Oh dear.

She was disturbed from these thought when the sun disappeared. Y/n sat up quickly, a little too quickly as dark spots swam in front of her eyes like little fish. She blinked a few times before looking up. There was the outline of a person silhouetted against the sky. She smiled widely as she rose to the surface as it must have been Pan. Except, when she lifted her head out of the water to say hello, it was not Pan. She gasped in fright before quickly diving down again. She didn't recognize this boy, but he looked as surprised to see her as she did of him. Still, into her little lagoon cavern she went. 

As she hid, Felix watched the fading rippled in shock. A mermaid? Is that what Pan has been leaving camp for? A thousand questions flooded his brain, but he didn't get the chance to process them fully when a presence appeared behind him. An incredibly angry presence.

"What the hell are you doing here laddy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi it's author! I finally got myself motivated to write another chapter! Yay! I hope that this one was okay and I'll try and write more now that we're all stuck in quarantine. :))


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